Stat of the Day: Carlos Alcaraz has now won seven of his last eight matches against Top 5 players—and gets Novak Djokovic next
He defeated No. 5-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (5), in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros on Tuesday night.
You don’t get to be No. 1 without having a great record against top players, and Carlos Alcaraz has been taking that to a new level over the last 15 months—and he was on an even higher level on Tuesday night.
The Spaniard cruised through the first two sets and then held off a late surge to defeat No. 5-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas at Roland Garros, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (5), to not only reach the semifinals of the clay-court major for the first time, but to record his seventh win in his last eight matches against Top 5 players, a stretch that started in Miami last year.
ALCARAZ'S CAREER RECORD VS TOP 5 PLAYERS: 8-5
l. to No. 2 Nadal in 2021 Madrid 2nd Rd, 6-1, 6-2
l. to No. 2 Medvedev in 2021 Wimbledon 2nd Rd, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2
d. No. 3 Tsitsipas in 2021 US Open 3rd Rd, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 0-6, 7-5
l. to No. 4 Zverev in 2021 Vienna SFs, 6-3, 6-3
l. to No. 4 Nadal in 2022 Indian Wells SFs, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
d. No. 5 Tsitsipas in 2022 Miami 4th Rd, 7-5, 6-3
d. No. 5 Tsitsipas in 2022 Barcelona QFs, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
d. No. 4 Nadal in 2022 Madrid QFs, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
d. No. 1 Djokovic in 2022 Madrid SFs, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5)
d. No. 3 Zverev in 2022 Madrid F, 6-3, 6-1
l. to No. 3 Zverev in 2022 Roland Garros QFs, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7)
d. No. 5 Tsitsipas in 2023 Barcelona F, 6-3, 6-4
d. No. 5 Tsitsipas in 2023 Roland Garros QFs, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (5)
Alcaraz’s victory also sets up an absolute blockbuster of a semifinal against 22-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz seemed headed for an even more dominant victory over Tsitsipas on Tuesday night—after winning a pair of 34-minute sets, he jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set and brought up double match point with Tsitsipas serving at 15-40 in that game.
Tsitsipas dug out a hold to close the gap to 5-3, broke Alcaraz to make it 5-4 and held again for 5-all—fighting off a third match point on his serve—and the Greek eventually pushed it to a tie-break.
But Alcaraz grabbed an early mini-break and didn’t let go, eventually closing the match out after two hours and 12 minutes on court.
Up next, another Top 5 player, and not just any Top 5 player—Novak Djokovic, the current No. 3, but the No. 1 of No. 1s, having spent an all-time record 387 career weeks at No. 1 on the ATP rankings in his career.
Alcaraz and Djokovic have played each other just once before, with Alcaraz prevailing in an absolute epic in the semifinals of Madrid last year, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5), after three hours and 36 minutes.
They'll meet for the second time on Court Philippe Chatrier on Friday.